New Delhi: A 1000-dollar donation made to the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP two months ago from Canada is bonafide, said Jaskirat Mann, who made the donation along with her husband, a businessman.

In December, Mrs Mann donated a thousand dollars to the party led by Arvind Kejriwal. A group that split from the party last year and calls itself AVAM had alleged on Wednesday that the money was paid by cheque and allowed money laundering for a dubious Canadian businessman.

Mrs Mann told NDTV that the basic facts being offered by AVAM are incorrect. She said the donation had been made by credit card and she said that because she is an Indian citizen, the contribution was legal and not in violation of laws that ban parties from taking money from foreigners.

“I saw my name on the cheque. People should find out if this has been deposited or not,” she said. “Someone is trying to defame Kejriwal.”

On Monday, AVAM said that Mr Kejriwal’s party accepted 50 lakhs each from four companies on the same day last year and that the firms have financial records that don’t check out.

Independent verification suggests that the companies appeared to have little or no real transactions. At least one was registered at a fake address.

The row has engulfed AAP on a major controversy just days before Delhi votes. Mr Kejriwal is taking on the BJP and its chief ministerial candidate, Kiran Bedi.

Mr Kejriwal has said that the donations were taken by cheque and declared on his party’s website – this, he said, proves the group’s commitment to financial transparency. The firms should be investigated, he said, and if he or other AAP leaders are found guilty of money-laundering, they should be arrested and “given the harshest punishment possible.”